


i wish i was only as cruel

by QuickSilverFox3



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Boil/Waxer - Freeform, Background Plo Koon & CC-3636 | Wolffe, Complicated Relationships, Established Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29198931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3
Summary: Obi-Wan should have known better than to hope for a peaceful day of paperwork when his lover, Jango Fett, who ran away a decade ago, returns with a problem only he can solve.[Jangobi Week 2021 Prompt #4 Forced to Work Together]
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110
Collections: Jangobi Week





	i wish i was only as cruel

**Author's Note:**

> My only experience with lawyers is playing Ace Attorney so please bare that in mind ^^

Obi-Wan carefully placed his tea down at his desk, the wood highlighted by a chain of rings from all the cups that had come before it, and settled into his seat. His office still felt oppressive to him — inherited quickly from Qui-Gon in the wake of his sudden passing — as it was still fitted with the dark wood and occasional twisted plant that his old teacher had favoured. Obi-Wan had tried to put his own touch on things, but found himself hampered time and time again by the guilt that twisted through his ribs like a living creature, settling to bite at his heart. 

Pausing for a moment, Obi-Wan allowed himself to turn towards the large window set in the centre of the only wall uncovered by bookshelves and disguised filing cabinets. Beneath him, almost hidden through the heavy smog that rose from the twisted roads that could be mistaken for rivers, lay the city of Coruscant, lit in a fire of reds and sickly yellows.

The building, a set of law offices inhabited by every speciality possible, was quiet around him, except for the distant rumble of a trolley passing over one the floors above — the sound filtering down the towering central staircase — and the muted almost bubbling music from Plo Koon’s office two floors down. They had passed each other that morning, the other man smiling at him from behind his brightly patterned mask while his assistant, Wolffe — Obi-Wan had never quite been able to meet his eyes properly — nodded his greetings before readjusting the pile of files in his arms. Obi-Wan had been able to hear their voices, pitched low but he could still hear the note of care twisting through Wolffe’s words, the other man a constant presence at Plo Koon’s side. 

His own assistant, Cody, was one of Wolffe’s half-brothers, proving time and time again that the universe was conspiring against Obi-Wan specifically, and that it truly was a small world for all that Coruscant was filled with people. Obi-Wan was surrounded by the children — the echoes as Jango called them when they let him — of the man he once loved with everything he was. 

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs of old regrets from his mind, Obi-Wan took a sip of his rapidly cooling tea, letting the slight bitter taste centre him for the day ahead, and turned to the first page of his paperwork. 

⁂

“Tea, sir.”

Obi-Wan startled, eyes dry and aching as he blinked slowly, feeling the final lines of text sear into his eyes as he glanced up. Cody pointed towards the gently steaming cup next to his elbow, his brow creased in familiar worry lines, before shifting his grip on the notepad tucked beneath his arm like a shield. With a gentle smile to try and soothe some of the other man’s worries, Obi-Wan reached for the cup, and paused. 

“Cody?”

“Sir?” Cody didn’t shift nervously from foot to foot, or duck his head to try and get away like some of his half-brothers would when confronted with Obi-Wan’s reproachful stare. He had never acted that way since the first day he walked through Obi-Wan’s office door, and pushed the older lawyer out for a break so Cody could organise his files in peace. But Obi-Wan knew the look on his face — the slightly widened eyes, the mild look of surprise communicated solely through a slightly raised eyebrow — although Obi-Wan had first learned it from Jango. 

The thought sent a pang of grief through his heart, grief for what could have been, and his nails dug into his palms for a moment before he moved past the emotion, letting it flow through him rather than fester in his chest like a wound. “What is going on?”

“If I tell you, it’s an internal matter—” Cody looked like every word was being dragged out of him, the corner of one eye starting to twitch “—would you let us handle it?”

As if on cue, a crash echoed through the half-open door, followed by indistinguishable yells. Obi-Wan was standing in an instant, moving towards the landing as Cody sighed, a far too world-weary sigh for such a young man, and followed him, moving with an almost military-like precision. 

Sound carried through the floors, and on the landings above and below him, Obi-Wan could see the familiar faces of his colleagues peering down, all to a man pretending they weren’t deeply invested in finding out what was going on. Glancing down towards the entrance, Obi-Wan felt his blood run cold. 

Boil and Waxer stood in the glass entryway to the building, hackles raised and arms outstretched to bar the door from the man trying to argue his way inside. Numa, their adopted daughter, was curled into Kix’s arms, her bright blue braids the only part of her that was visible, the man hovering half tucked into a doorway. 

“Boil, Waxer?”

Waxer turned, using the motion to check on Numa as he did so, and caught Obi-Wan’s eye. Next to him, he could sense Cody’s glare lessen, the other man raising a hand to press it into his eyes next to him. Even Cody’s organisation couldn’t account for the force of nature that was Jango Fett. 

“Is Jango here to see me?” Through the glass, Obi-Wan saw Jango freeze, his arms lowering as he pressed them to his side, but couldn’t make out the expression on his face. Was he angry? Remorseful? Obi-Wan still woke from nightmares of their final parting, the rain crashing down on them both as Jango kissed him once — fierce and desperate, his hand leaving bruises on Obi-Wan’s hip — before he walked away from everything they had built together. 

Waxer looked at Cody first, the gesture small but it spoke volumes, before nodding hesitantly. 

Obi-Wan turned to Cody, catching the rapid-fire flashes of guilt and grief flickering over his face before it was tucked away once more. “I’ll be fine,” Obi-Wan reassured him, laying a careful hand on his arm and squeezing. 

“If you’re sure, sir,” Cody said, hesitancy clear in every unspoken word kept in his chest. 

“Let him up. I’ll see him in my office. I’m sure he would appreciate someone showing him the way.”

It was a low blow, but a deserved one as Obi-Wan saw Jango flinch at the reminder through the glass that while he was slowly rebuilding relationships with his sons — those that would let him following the clerical error that led to their existences — he knew nothing about Obi-Wan’s life anymore.

“Tell your brothers thank you, Cody. And I thank you as well for looking out for me,” Obi-Wan murmured, as the crowd began to slowly disperse, assistants corralling their lawyers back into their offices with a careful word or, in the case of Rex and Anakin, hoisting the man over his shoulder and carrying him when subtlety failed to work.

“I know he’s trying, but—” Cody broke off with a frown and a shake of his head.

“He’s here. I can hear him out, at least.”

“Would you like some company, sir?”

Obi-Wan carefully sat back down in his chair, drawing his cup of tea closer to him. He stared at the dark liquid as he thought, breathing in the sweet floral scent. “No, thank you Cody. I believe this is a conversation best had by ourselves.”

Cody’s frown only deepened, too harsh an expression to have found its place on such a young face, and Obi-Wan sighed softly. “I believe Plo Koon was needing some help?”

It was an obvious ploy, but one he knew would work. Given Plo Koon’s involvement in their own case, all of Jango’s sons had a soft spot for the man, although he often had more than enough help in the form of his ‘Wolf Pack’. 

“Sir.”

Cody turned to leave, and tensed. His bulk was blocking most of Obi-Wan’s view of the door, but the atmosphere in the room grew cold. “ _ Buir. _ ”

“ _ Eyayad. _ ”

Jango’s voice was softer than Obi-Wan remembered, tempered by time. Cody’s back stiffened further at the endearment, glancing back over his shoulder at Obi-Wan — worry clear in his eyes — before he marched out of the room. 

Jango’s hair was speckled with grey, and longer than Obi-Wan remembered, curling around his ears. His face was lined and scarred, but his smile was the same — causing Obi-Wan’s stomach to flip reflexively, warmth flooding through him.

“I see you still need to cause an entrance,” he murmured, gesturing for Jango to sit opposite him. The man did so, glancing around the room with equal parts curiosity and apprehension, his gaze never fully landing on Obi-Wan.

“I didn’t want our first meeting back to be like this,” Jango sighed, scrubbing a hand across his eyes, leaning forward for a moment — looking as vulnerable as Obi-Wan had ever seen him, stripped out of his customary dark green court suit — before he settled back in his chair. “I had plans before I, before—” He broke off.

“Before you left shortly after finding out that you had inadvertently fathered hundreds of children?”

“I was a starving student at the time of those “donations”,” Jango snapped, catching himself before he escalated any further. “But that doesn’t excuse me running away.”

“It’s been nearly a decade, Jango,” Obi-Wan said, running a thumb against the faded pattern on his mug, feeling the heat press at his skin. “I thought you were dead. I mourned you.”

“I can’t apologise enough,  _ cyar’ika _ . I was a coward.” He spat the word with more venom than Obi-Wan had ever heard. “And I will spend the rest of my life trying to correct my mistakes, not just the ones I inflicted on you, but on my children. But, what I came here before is more than that.”

“Oh?”

Obi-Wan sat back in his chair, saw Jango flinch at the appearance of his court persona, before the other man straightened in his chair. They had met in court, a courtship of arguments and battles fought with words, coffee and meals exchanged in the dead of night when neither of them could even see straight anymore. Jango had quit prosecuting when he left, fleeing without a word into the night, but he still knew how to pull on that mask, like an old familiar coat. 

They had been legendary, and Obi-Wan couldn’t hide the grin that slipped out. 

“I’m here because I’m being framed for murder. And you are the only person who can help me, even if you must hate me right now.”

“Jango, I don’t think I could ever hate you.”

Obi-Wan sighed, letting his head drop until his forehead was pressed into the soft leather adorning the top of his desk, breathing in the age old scent of varnish and coffee. “I will help you though. But you have to tell me everything.”

Jango could have carved from marble, but he nodded slowly, hands curled into fists so tight that Obi-Wan wondered if they would break. 

“Okay,  _ cyar’ika _ . What would you like to know?”

**Author's Note:**

> Translation:  
> Cyar'ika: beloved  
> Eyayad: my echo
> 
> [ My Tumblr!](https://inkformyblood.tumblr.com) Requests are always welcome!  
> 


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